Silo.



' J. BAUERLE.

SILO.

APPLICATION r1150 11111.9, 1915.

1,143,164; Patented June 15, 1915.

r111: NORRIS PETERS 60., PHOTO-LITHOU wAsHINGroM 0.}.

'UNTTED @TATES PATENT @FFTQE.

JOHN BAUER-LE, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE HAUSER-STANDER TANK COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

SILO.

Application filed January 9, 1915.

T all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN BAUERLE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Silos, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to silos of the type wherein a number of separated openings are provided for doors in the length of the silo, and in which the doors are not hinged, or sliding, but seat in the openings provided for them, and are held from falling inwardly or outwardly by various means. This nature of silo demands a secure means of setting in the cross braces which separate the door sections, and in connection with the doors or braces, some means of forming a ladder for climbing the side of the silo. Owing to the fact that silos are sold in knockdown condition, and that a longitudinal space must always be left in the tank for a series of doors, which doors are necessarily securely braced, it has been customary to arrange the parts so that the ladder is formed by the door looking or bracing portions.

It is, then, the object of my invention to provide 'a silo of the type mentioned wherein the doorways are formed in a mannerinsuring a close fit, are securely braced and have in connection with them an efficient ladder forming device; and this I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically pointed out and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the silo looking directly at the doors. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken through one of the cross braces. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the center of the doors. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of one of the doors.

The silo is formed of staves 1, set on a concrete foundation 2, and bound around with hoops 3. It has a roof 4:, such as is ordinarily provided in structures of this nature, and the staves are mortise and tenon jointed, so that the whole may be sold in knockdown condition and assembled by the purchaser at the desired point for the structure. About four staves are left out in the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 15, 1915. Serial No. 1,346.

tank body, the doors.

It is-customary in silos to provide two door frame pieces, or reinforcing pieces, which are bolted to the staves at the side of such an opening and extended along the staves throughout their entire length, thereby forming a door frame the length of the silo. In the present silo, this is not necessary, because there is no continuous door opening the entire length of the silo, but rather a number of door openings, one above the other.

The staves, at each side of the opening left for the doors, are beveled away from the opening at 5 and 6. A series of cross braces are provided to fit these bevels, and are set into the inter-stave space at the proper distance apart to form a series of door openings of rectangular shape, one above the other, in any desired number.

The braces are formed of a unitary piece of timber worked on the outside to a convex surface 7 and with this surface grooved at 8 to permit the hoops to bear against the brace and also against the staves of the silo. The braces are undercut at the sides to form wings 9, which lap over the two end staves on the outside and are bolted to the staves by bolts 10. This undercutting leaves an extension 11 at the under side of the brace which is beveled outwardly at 12, 12, on the ends so as to bear against the bevels 5 and 6 on the end staves and give a secure hold to the brace. The sides of this extension are beveled inwardly at 13, 13, to form a secure seat for the doors in cooperation with the like bevels on the staves.

The doors 14 are formed of a single thickness of boards, which are held together and against warping by oak braces 15, 15, bolted across them at top and bottom and by dowel pins 16, 16, passing through each board. The doors thus formed are beveled outwardly at each side and end so as to engage the opposite bevels of the cross braces and staves, and it can readily be seen that the doors will be held in place with air tight joints throughout, when the silo is full by the pressure outward of the contents of the silo. The means of holding the doors, to be described below, is thus of use mainly when there is nothing in the silo to give the outward pressure. Each door is provided for this purpose with a large handle .17 of bar iron.

so as to provide an opening for The handle is bolted to the door, and extends out angularly therefrom. A holding bar 18, having an angular face so as to fit the space between the handle and the door, is.

secured to the silo staves, and is adapted to be brought down between the handle and the door and to span the door opening, thereby holding the door against falling inwardly and firmly wedging it in position.

The top portions 19 of these handles form a continuous ladder from top to bottom of the silo, and as can be seen, the ladder thus provided is very secure, owing to the beveled door openings and the simplicity of the bar lock, since the absence of the bar would always be plainly noticeable.

It is not desired to be limited in the claims that follow to any specific shape of silo, as the invention herein has to do with the doors in the walls of silos. In the description, also, it has not been thought necessary to generalize by pointing out alternative structure and it is not intended that the scope of the claims that follow shall be limited for this reason.

In putting in the doors, the silo staves are first set up, with the proper number of staves omitted, with the beveled staves at each side of the opening, and the cross braces set in place and bolted. The hoops or cables are then stretched around the silo, set in the grooves in the braces and tightened up by turn buckles or any desired means. The

doors are then passed in through the door openings, drawn out against their seats and fastened by means of the locking bars. The roof and other finishing touches are then put on, and the silo is complete and ready for use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a silo having inwardly beveled door frames, doors beveled to fit said frames, angularly extending handles on the doors, horizontal top bars for the handles to serve as a ladder for the silo, and cross bars to span the frames and adapted to fit between the handles and the doors.

2. In a silo having inwardly beveled door frames, doors beveled to fit said frames, angularly and upwardly extending handles on the doors, horizontal top bars for the handles to serve as a ladder for the silo, and cross bars to span the frames secured'to the silo and adapted to fit between the handles and the doors.

JOHN BAUERLE.

Witnesses WALTER C. MUHLHAUSER, AGNES M. FLANNERY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

